Dearest Family and Friends!
I hope that this letter finds you all happy and well! I pray for each of you daily and love you so much!!! Thank you so much for all of your letters and packages! I wore my Wyoming shirt to this gym this morning that you sent Ash, and I have never been so excited to go to they gym. I was so excited to represent my home, and while pride is not good, I felt so proud to be from Wyoming at that moment.
I hit my 3 month mark of being on a mission this past week! It feels like I just entered the MTC, but then again, it feels like it was years ago. So much has changed and happened in these past 3 months. It is amazing how much your life and yourself can change in such a short period of time. I feel like the biggest thing I have learned in three months is how much Heavenly Father loves His children and is always watching out for them and taking care of them. I still don't comprehend His love fully, but I feel in greater abundance as I come closer to Him. I loved what President Monson said at the general relief society meeting about how God always loves us. Even if we don't deserve it, His love is always there. I feel like I am developing a personal relationship with Heavenly Father, and I am so grateful for this. I feel like, and I hope I am changing and becoming more like my Savior.
Also, I read something neat the other day, about how as missionaries, we thrust in the sickle and the Lord does the harvest. It truly is His work, but He needs servants to thrust in the sickle. I want to always be a willing and worthy servant for Him, because I love Him. I also am coming to realize that the more dedicated I am in service to Him and the more I give to Him, the happier I am! I know that is true for all of us!
Also, I just realized that the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery are in my area! I knew they were close, but I didn't realize how close. It continues to amaze me that I am actually here. That I am 4 miles away from our nation's capital! Here is a quick list of some simple things that I love about this area:
* The trees - it's so cool to feel like you are always driving through a forest
*Traffic jams - all the time, even at 6:00 pm on a Sunday night. Where else, except maybe China, would you find traffic like that!?
*Planes and helicopters constantly flying overhead. It's actually very calming, and I don't feel as nervous about them as I used to.
*Being surrounded by people in the military. I have two military neighbors (one of them is an investigator!) that I know of, but I don't think I have ever felt so safe! Also, the investigator who is our neighbor and in the military, is an honor guard at the Arlington Cemetery and a sniper! He will be appearing later in this e-mail, so look forward to that!
*The people that we meet from all around the world, and we have copies of the Book of Mormon in so many different languages because of it. We always carry English, Spanish, and Chinese copies with us, but we have several others in our car, including Vietnamese, German, Amharic (Ethiopian language), French, Mongolian, Swahili, etc.
*Practicing my Spanish! I can now say "Compartimos un mensaje de Jesu Cristo. Yo creo en Jesu Cristo. Jesu Cristo is mi Sabador," very quickly! Ihave such a strong desire to learn Spanish and Chinese, and I love interacting with these people!
*EVERYONE has a dog! I think I have almost seen every breed of dog that there is here!
And so much more! In other exciting news...it's transfer week!! I think I am staying here, but I will let you all know on Friday!
Here is a quick rundown of the week!
MONDAY- We had dinner with Keren and a woman in our ward. We ate a the Pentagon City Mall, and I tried Panera Bread for the first time. It is a lot like Kneaders, but I think I actually like Kneaders better. They got a long really well, and it was a really good dinner. Keren commented afterwards that every Mormon she has met is so nice, and this just amazes her! We then visited a sweet lady who works at an apartment complex named Negeset, and had a really good visit with her. We have given her a Book of Mormon, but she hasn't read it yet. We love visiting with her, and we make it a point to visit her at least once a week. She is an older woman, and told us that she wants to be married and have 10 children, and she is afraid that she missed her chance at this. She says that she thinks that God gave her a lot of chances for this when she was young, but she didn't take them, so she doesn't think He will give her any more. It made me so sad for her that this is how she feels. I don't feel like she is really happy because of this, and I desire so much for her to have the hope of the gospel in her life. We tried to express this to her, and tell her that God has not, nor will He ever give up on her.
TUESDAY - We had district meeting, comp study, and then we went out and did a "Power Hour" (a fun way to say that we went street contacting). It was the strangest power hour we have ever had. We met a man doing Tai Chi in the park, and he told us all about it and recommended some great You Tube videos that we should watch, that show more about it (If any of you are interested in learning, search for Tai Chi Master on youtube :) ) He was really into science and into using logic to explain religion, which I have found gets you absolutely nowhere. It just makes you more confused, when you try to reason through and explain everything using science. Not that you shouldn't seek answers to questions, but it is really only through the Holy Ghost that you can know Spiritual truths. He was great though!
We then met a man named Maxwell, who rejected us by telling us a lot of quantum physics jokes, that neither I or Sister Orrock understood. He was also great and very intelligent!
We then met a man named Jason who seemed really uninterested and like he didn't want to talk to us at all. He had visited a Methodist church in the past to learn more about God, but didn't feel like he got anything out of it. An hour later, we got a text from him, and he said that he had a lot of questions about religion, and he appreciated us talking to him. I think that is the first time someone has actually used our number on a pass along card to contact us, and we were really excited. On Wednesday, he text us saying that Sister Akin had beautiful eyes, and I was so horrified! It is one of the worst feelings in the world to be flirted with as a missionary. I seriously feel so dirty and it just gives me the heebie jeebies. As you can guess, we will probably not be seeing him again, and will be passing him off to the elders :)
That night we had a lot of tender mercies and made contact with a lot of people, but didn't get into a lesson with anyone.
WEDNESDAY - We got to visit sweet Alma Jones at the nursing home! She is seriously the sweetest woman that I know, and she has such a strong testimony and love of the gospel. She is going to the temple soon to receive her endowments, and we are going to go with her. I am excited for her and excited to be there with her. I love that woman so much!
We had a lesson that night with Sandra and Ignacio (a part member family - he is from Mexico and she from Colombia). It was a slightly stressful lesson. She like to talk a lot, which was great, but not so great when she was talking about stuff that had nothing to do with the gospel. We would ask her a question and she would talk for 10 minutes nonstop and end up talking about cows (no joke) or anything that was not related to the church. She has a very good heart, but we just need to figure out how to teach her and what she needs.
THURSDAY - Lesson with Keren day! It is always a great day when we get to have a lesson with Keren! We talked about Jesus Christ, our need for a Savior, and justice and mercy. We watched some clips of conference talks with her, and read a lot of scriptures in the Book of Mormon to explain it. It was such a powerful lesson, and I think the need for Jesus Christ, is really starting to click for her. I felt like it was a huge turning point lesson for her, and that her faith in Jesus Christ grew so much! She is going back to Israel next Monday for a month, which we are sad and excited for. We are going to the temple visitors center with her this upcoming Wednesday and watching the Joseph Smith movie with her, which I hope will be a really powerful experience for her. That night we had dinner at a ward member's home. They are Japanese American and are slightly intimidating at first, but it ended up being a really good visit. He has met every president since President Ford and he is good friends with Jeffrey R. Holland! They fed us tofu, rice and vegetables. They are very sweet and I love them both.
That evening we went on another Power Hour and met a family from Bolivia or Belize. We then visited Pei/Darcy and Nan. They had just made some Chinese food and they insisted that we sit down and eat with them. Double Dinner Night! We read Alma 32 with him, and had a really good discussion about it. Chinese people are so giving and so kind! They are just amazing people!
FRIDAY - We had a launching leaders meeting (a course that a senior couple teaches) and a half mission conference. The AP's presented a goal of having 166 baptisms by the end of the year for the whole mission, so we are working for that. It is so exciting and I love these types of things! It really felt like a pep rally at times, but it was very effective and motivating!!
That night we had dinner with another couple in our ward. They just moved here from Seattle and they were so fun to talk to. We then visited Rob, a less active member in our ward, and then tried to make contact with a potential, but he didn't want to see us. We ended up getting a return apt with his roommate for tonight though!
SATURDAY - We did weekly planning today along with the progress record, so it didn't feel like we actually were able to do a lot of work. We did go to the relief society broadcast with Keren though, and she loved it! It was so fantastic!
SUNDAY- Our sniper and military investigator, Jacob, came to church with us!! This was truly a miracle and an answer to 2 months of prays and fasting. He currently attends a Baptist church, and studies the Bible for several hours a week. He said that he would have to leave church by 9 (we start at 8) but he ended up staying until 9:45. Good sign I think! Gratefully testimony meeting was a really good meeting, and the Spirit was so strong!
Oh I forgot something relatively huge that happened Saturday night. Pei called us and said that his parents were livid that he was studying religion, and they said we were brainwashing him. He was really sad when he called us to tell us he couldn't meet with us anymore, and he was afraid he wouldn't want to talk to him anymore! We reassured him that was most definitely not the case. Fast forward to Sunday, where this story will continue.
We visited Sandra and Ignacio briefly, and then we went with Pei to the members that have become really close friends with him. We talked about all of his concerns, and he said that he feels like we are all, and especially the Larsen family, his really close friends. He said that he still wants to know more about our church, but he doesn't think he can get baptized yet. We also reassured him that he doesn't have to get baptized yet, but we can still teach him. He was very excited about this, and we will continue to pray that his parents' hearts will be softened.
That evening we went to a new member fireside with a recent convert in our ward, and he spoke at it! He is from China, and was really nervous, but he did so great!
The Lord is blessing us and watching over us so much! I know He is doing the same for you!
I am sorry that I won't be able to send long replies to all of your e-mails that you sent. I am so grateful for them, but I didn't manage my e-mail time well today!
Also, it was raining and snowing there!? It is chilly in the mornings here, but still in the 70's during the day.
Cory, I am so excited to hear the Mormon rap when I get home and to see your new wheels :)
Cody, I hope that state tennis goes great! You are incredible bud!!!
Also, I am so excited for general conference. We are going to try to watch it with investigators and less actives in our ward, so hopefully we get to watch all the sessions!
Thank you again for your packages. I especially appreciated the forks and staples ;) I love you all so much!!
Love you dearly!
Sister Chelsea Akin
Thought for the week: Jacob 7 - the whole chapter is incredible! Be unshaken!
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